Elephant tusks: CHADEMA wants Kinana at EA Court of Justice

BY EMMANUEL ONYANGO.

The official opposition camp in Parliament yesterday called for judicial intervention of the East African Court of Justice against Abdulrahman Kinana, secretary general of the ruling party (CCM), for alleged involvement in illegal cross-border trade in elephant tusks.

The call was rubbished by the Minister for East African Cooperation, Samuel Sitta who termed the move ill-advised, as another demonstration of cheap politics from the opposition.

Shadow minister for East African Cooperation, Ezekiel Wenje, tabling his alternative budget speech yesterday insisted that the CCM Secretary General was involved in smuggling ivory tusks, which were seized in Vietnam last year.

The Nyamagana MP (CHADEMA) in a speech read on his behalf by Raya Ibrahim (Special Seats-CHADEMA)  claimed that the CCM top official is a shipping agent of the ship which was found to have hauled illegal tusks to Vietnam last year.

The opposition claimed also that the CCM government plays foul over the matter by defending their party’s secretary general instead of investigating the matter to gather details and required evidence.

The speech also quoted the Minister for Home Affairs Dr. Emmanuel Nchimbi who earlier said that casea No. 3 and 4 of  2009 filed at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court had been suspended ever since as Tanzania has no instruments of exchanging suspects with the government of Vietnam.

Dr. Nchimbi was contributing to the estimates speech for the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources tabled on April 30, 2013. He said then that there was no evidence against the party chieftain to be tendered before a court of law.

This is the second time the opposition camp in the National Assembly seeks to implicate the CCM Secretary General in the networks of businessmen who are directly involved in illegal global tusks business.

The opposition maintains that the government seems to be defending and protecting its cadre and speaks in favor of him at the expense of endangered wildlife and national heritage.

They said elephants in national parks among EAC member states are endangered, with the parks losing revenues obtained through tourism, losing their allure as reports of elephants perishing spread around the world. The parliamentary leader of the official opposition, Freeman Mbowe sought to know what action the Tanzania government was taking in order to curb increased poaching activities, where about 850 elephants are lately reported to have been killed within a month. The statistics shows that everyday 30 elephants are slaughtered through poaching.

Tied to the same issue, the opposition camp also queried action taken by the government to communicate with the Burundi authorities to establish the facts about a container impounded in China, full of tusks.

The views by the opposition camp have created uncertainty that the impounded container might have passed through Dar es Salaam port since Burundi is a landlocked country. They question the government as to what steps have state authorities have taken as part of implementation of a strategic plan to ensure peace and security within EAC member states, including in the wildlife sector.

 Last week this paper reported that investment relations between China and Tanzania had been cited in elephant poaching in Tanzania, calling for serious government intervention, as per current reports on the elephant poaching crisis.

A well-detailed report authored by the Tanzania Elephant Protection Society (TEPS) made available noted that though Chinese investments were important in the country’s economy and development, they shouldn’t compromise the country’s natural wildlife conservation efforts.

The report states clearly the current rate of 30 elephants killed everyday and 850 elephants shot every month poses unprecedented risks to the country’s elephant population perishing in the next seven years.

“China is the number one investor in Tanzania … but the majority of tusks exported illegally from Tanzania end up in China due to the huge demand for ivory in China,” it affirms.

“Tanzania’s partnership with China is of great benefit to the country’s economy and development but it must not be at the expense of Tanzania’s vital natural resources and tourist industry … this requires political will and strong leadership,” the report intoned.

The document recommends: “The Tanzania government should make investment from China and other countries strictly conditional on China tackling its demand for ivory at home, and stronger law enforcement collaboration to halt the flow of ivory from Tanzania to China.”

Experts also recommended the presence of sniffer dogs working 24 hours at every port and airport, the report added.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN: http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=55091